


Sweet Thing

by StellinaGatsby



Series: Like Real People Do [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: Angst, Gen, Light Angst, Pre-Relationship, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:20:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22108498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellinaGatsby/pseuds/StellinaGatsby
Summary: Sarah sees stars for the first time and needs to share it with GobThe beginning of a beautiful friendshipTakes place near the beginning of the game, before the rest of the stories in this series
Relationships: Gob/Female Lone Wanderer, Gob/Lone Wanderer
Series: Like Real People Do [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1370947
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Sweet Thing

> I shall raise my hand up into the night, to the night sky  
>  And count the stars that are shining in your eye

Gob was cleaning glasses and keeping an eye on the caravan guard who had sidled up next to Nova. She seemed to have him handled, but he still felt a little protective and a little jealous.

“Gob!”

He startled at the sound of his name.

The Vaultie was standing in the doorway, gesturing for him to come outside. 

“Come look!” she said.

It had been maybe five or six weeks since she had come out from whatever rock she had been living under and she had quickly become a fixture in Megaton.

Gob still wasn’t sure what to think of her. 

She had surprised him when they first met. He saw her come into the bar, but she hadn’t spotted him right away. He had watched her warily as she walked over to Nova. He waited for her to notice him, to grimace in disgust, or more likely to scream. The rare Vault dwellers who came through Megaton were always the worst.

When her eyes finally fell on him, she paused for just a moment, but her expression didn’t change. She said something else to Nova, he heard Nova say his name, then someone else had demanded his attention.

The next thing he knew, there was a curly haired Vaultie leaning on the bar, smiling at him. He startled; the smile was friendly but he didn’t understand it and that made him nervous.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi?” He doubted she had any caps, but he still had to ask. “You… uh… want a drink?”

“Um… Do you have anything that isn’t alcohol?”

He shrugged. “Nuka-Cola?”

“I’ll have that please.”

He handed it over and she paid for the drink.

“I… I was wondering…”

He braced himself for whatever cruelty was about to leave her mouth.

“Have you seen another Vault dweller recently? Like within the last day or two. He’s my dad. White, middle-aged, about six feet tall, salt and pepper hair.”

That wasn’t what he was expecting.

“I… um… I can’t say I have. Sorry, kid.” He winced, waiting for her anger.

She sighed. “That’s okay. Thanks for your time. And thanks for the drink.” She held up the bottle and took a sip.

“You’re… you’re not going to hit me? Yell at me? Not even berate me a little?”

At that, she had looked horrified. “I hadn’t planned on it.”

Now she was staring at him. He gaped back at her for a second, but then the scrutiny of her gaze started to bore into him and he had to look away. The way she had looked at him made him feel flayed, exposed.

“What’s up with your radio?” she asked quietly.

She had been friendly towards him ever since, but he was sure she’d learn. Her kindness was naïve and had no place in the Wasteland. She would learn to despise him like everyone else did. He already resented her for it.

The Vaultie was still smiling at him from the doorway. She whispered his name and waved him over again. He looked around for Moriarty; he didn’t see him anywhere.

Gob reluctantly stepped out from behind the bar. He wasn’t sure what she wanted him for. His hands started to sweat; this might be a trap, but her smile seemed genuine and earnest.

He stepped out onto the front porch and stood next to her where she was leaning on the railing and looking up at the sky.

“What do you need, drunkie?” he asked.

She nudged him with her elbow and then pointed up at the sky. “Look.”

He looked up. The radiation haze and storm clouds had cleared away, leaving the sky littered with stars. More stars than he had seen since he was a child. More stars then he remembered there being.

“Whoa,” he whispered. 

Something about the night sky, about the simultaneous all-encompassing darkness and brilliant illumination, blanketed him in calm. It made him feel insignificant and important, isolated but not lonely. It made him feel like he and the Vaultie were the only two people in the world; or at least the only two privileged enough to see the simple and infinite beauty of the universe sprawled out above them.

“They’re beautiful,” the Vaultie said, her voice tinged with wonder and reverence. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“You’ve never seen stars before?”

“No. I lived my whole life underground, remember?”

She gasped and elbowed him again.

“What?”

“A shooting star. Did you see it?”

“No.”

Another star fell just as he answered.

“There’s another one!” she said.

“I saw it.” He suddenly remembered something he hadn’t thought of in years. “Make a wish.”

“What?”

“You’re supposed to wish on falling stars.”

“Oh! Like birthday candles! I love that. Okay.” She closed her eyes.

Gob watched her as she silently made her wish. She opened her eyes and looked back up to the sky. The look on her face was one of awe and it made her look almost childlike.

“Why’d you bring me out here, Vaultie?”

She glanced over at him, then back up at the stars. “It’s just… this is so beautiful! I wanted to share it with someone. And I thought you might be someone who would appreciate that kind of beauty.”

Something inside him shattered. His grip on the railing tightened as his knees went weak.

Any feelings of resentment or distrust were gone. She saw him as someone; not just someone, but someone worthy of sharing the rare beauty of the Wasteland with. She saw something beautiful and thought of him; he couldn't even begin to fathom what that meant. 

He knew he shouldn't. He knew this wasn't as monumental to her as it was to him. But he couldn't help it. He liked her.

He never thought of her as the Vaultie after that. From then on, she was always Sarah.

**Author's Note:**

> The title and epigraph are from the song "Sweet Thing", which is originally by Van Morrison, but Hozier did a cover, so it fits with the rest of the series.
> 
> The Lone Wanderer leaves Vault 101 on August 17, so six weeks later would be during the draconids. It's not as impressive a meteor shower as the leonids or the perseids, but...


End file.
